cost of ownership

[eightonezero]

I am considering an E92 M3, but had some concerns on maintenance. The other vehicle I was considering was the GTR, but that was fairly quickly shot down after hearing about $20k dealer markups, tire replacements upwards of $4000 and brake maintenance (rotor must be replaced) for around $3500. Can we expect the new M3 to have the same type of expenses? I understand the E46 was relatively expensive to maintain as well, but still within reason compared to the GTR

Thanks

[UltimateBMW]

The e92 M3 will probably not suffer from much mark-up costs unless you live in a hotspot. Cities such as NYC, LA, Long Beach, San Fransisco, or pretty much all of California will probably have a small to large mark-up depending. However, most of the dealerships in the US won't mark the car up.

As far as tires go, well that is totally up to how you drive the car. If you drift the car for 3 hours on the first day then that is 1 set of tires immediately gone. But if you drive normally, maybe gunning it and taking a few hard corners here and there but not entering drifts, then I doubt that the tires will need to be replaced because their predicted mile usage.

For brakes, unless you do something your not suppost to do to break your brakes, BMW has a factory warranty for brake replacements at their scheduled increments.

For what purposes are you going to buy the car? Daily drive/fun, fun/track, or pure track. The answer to that question will probably make the choice clear to you since the M3 would be a much better daily driver car assuming you get EDC (Electronic Dampener Control). I would assuming the above conditions would be similar for the GT-R (never owned a Nissan so I don't know how their warranty and customer service works) in that if you drive normally then you won't have to replace tires as often nor would you need to replace brakes. But I doubt the GT-R is as comfortable inside as the M3 is. The M3 is a luxury/sport coupe and the GT-R is a sports car. Big difference in their philosophy's behind the engineering.

[SpencerM3]

L.A. here and my dealer has a company policy of no mark ups

[UltimateBMW]

Well then there you have it.

[eightonezero]

Ultimate BMW, thanks for the detailed response. I have had poor customer service with Nissan in the past, so I do not trust them with a $70k vehicle.

The M3 will be used for daily driving (50mile commute one way). I plan to open it up a little bit, but not take corners too fast. Just too dangerous on public roads (I'm an amateur motorcycle racer, so I get my kicks from that)

So BMW covers all of the brake replacement? That's great to hear.

Thanks again

[Keto]

Given that BMW has free scheduled maintenance while under warranty, and others do not, that's another significant chunk of savings depending on your mileage.

[eightonezero]

Originally Posted by Keto

Given that BMW has free scheduled maintenance while under warranty, and others do not, that's another significant chunk of savings depending on your mileage.

That's the deal sealer right there

[eightonezero]

Stupid question: Does the m3 come with auto and manual, or just manual?

[JEllis]

Plenty of information is posted on this. The search function is awesome on these forums.

That being said, right now only 6MT is offered. However, many expect a M-DCT tranny to be released sometime around March.

Jason

[eightonezero]

Thank you. Traditionally, has the M3's auto tranny been on par with the 6spd?

[lucid]

Originally Posted by eightonezero

Thank you. Traditionally, has the M3's auto tranny been on par with the 6spd?

Search for DCT, MDCT, or M-DCT.

[UltimateBMW]

The quick answer with some brief history.

e36 M3: Had a normal automatic. Nothing special here, and the Manual was quicker in general.
e46 M3: This M3 debuted the SMG transmission. SMG was much faster than a 6MT in terms of shift times as this technology was straight out of F1 and GT racing.
e92 M3: This car will debut the M-DCT transmission similar to how the previous generation of M3 was to the SMG that later was used in M5 and M6 models and even the normal e9X 3-series automatics.

The M-DCT is a Dual (wet) Clutch Transmission, in development by Getrag, that is reported of having shift times faster than the SMG at around 60ms, 0.06s. This is the ultimate of performance automatic transmission and when it is released expect the 0-60 time of the car to drop 0.2s on average. This benefit in timed performance will only build up over the course of a track lap or extended duration where more shifts are involved.

There is plenty of more information, so I suggest taking Lucid's advice and doing a forum search on the topic.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

e46 M3: This M3 debuted the SMG transmission. SMG was much faster than a 6MT in terms of shift times as this technology was straight out of F1 and GT racing.

The E46 M3 did not debut with SMG, it was not available until the seconds model year. Also the SMG did not shift faster than a top driver in a MT in the E46 M3. BMW Marketing offered stated shift times that were complete BS. I think what they did is quote the time it takes for the SMG mechanism to move the shift rods, NOT including the two clutching operations. Actual shift times were about .2-.3 seconds. One reason it is "better" is simply its consistency of the shift times, far better than 99%+ of humans.

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

The M-DCT is a Dual (wet) Clutch Transmission

It is not yet clear if the M-DCT will have a wet clutch or the energy savings "moist" clutch system described in press releases. I'm betting on the the latter.

[UltimateBMW]

The e46 M3 debuted the SMG just as the e92 M3 will debut the M-DCT. While the car isn't initially launched with the transmission it is the first car that the transmission will be on for the brand, thus Debuting it. This situation was exactly the same for the e46 M3 since the SMG came in about a year after the 6MT M3 had been on the market. Loosely translating that scenario to today with the e92 M3, if the M-DCT is launched in March with the US launch of the car then the DCT would of come about 6 months after the EU release. You can knit pick and say, "but no it was launched at the same time as the M3 in the US", but I believe the actual situation gives enough leniency to justify the similarity between the launches of both M3's and their respective automatic transmissions. BMW just learned a bit from the last time in reference to the US market thats all. Either way, the result is still that the M3 will be the debut car for the M-DCT transmission.

I believe the Getrag website on the DCT for BMW mentioned it was a wet DCT. Let me find the link.

I found 2 links:
The direct source, in the title of the transmission it labels it as a wet transmission briefly in the title.
http://www.getrag.com/en/252

The second is a review published in July '07. The Getrag DCT that will be used in the M3 is the 7DCI600 and the quote which I took from the article clearly labels it as a wet clutch transmission.

Getrag has a range of twin-clutch transmissions under development, including the 75kg 6DCT250 six-speed unit that has a torque rating of 250Nm and is suitable for transverse front-drive applications, and the 79kg/seven-speed 7DCI600, which features wet clutches, can handle up to 600Nm and is designed for rear-drive vehicles.

http://www1.autotrader.com.au/mellor...25731D00020D2A

[Ray33]

Originally Posted by eightonezero

I am considering an E92 M3, but had some concerns on maintenance. The other vehicle I was considering was the GTR, but that was fairly quickly shot down after hearing about $20k dealer markups, tire replacements upwards of $4000 and brake maintenance (rotor must be replaced) for around $3500. Can we expect the new M3 to have the same type of expenses? I understand the E46 was relatively expensive to maintain as well, but still within reason compared to the GTR

Thanks

you want the toys you gotta pay.